I Do
by Kai517TeenWriter
Summary: A second attempt at a wedding for Cassandra.


Cassandra tugged at her dress's hem, feeling a major sense of deja vu overcome her. It had only been a year since she was supposed to get married to Vince... Thankfully, she had been saved from that situation by Varian.

Varian... The man Cass was going to marry today. And this was one wedding she was planning on going through with.

"I still don't like having to wear a dress for this," she grumbled, " but... I'll put up with it, just this once. For Varian."

"That's the spirit, Cass!" Clara grinned encouragingly, "do it for Varian. He's definitely worth it."

"Yeah. Yeah, he is. "

Cass gave a soft smile as she allowed her friends and colleagues to continue working on her, making her look as beautiful and perfect as possible on this, her special day.

Varian studied himself in the mirror, scowling a little. As he looked closely at his reflection, he couldn't help but notice every little flaw about him.

The young alchemist wasn't normally that way. If he had to look in the mirror at that flat, boring version of himself, he would only take a moment or two- often just to brush back some of that pesky hair of his. He wasn't normally very self-conscious, but today... Today was the biggest day of his life. And he was a nervous wreck.

Never before had he felt so excited... Or so nervous. All of his thoughts and feelings had grown more and more intense and overwhelming as the hours slowly passed and the time grew closer.

It took all Varian had in him not to just... Explode.

He sighed heavily, tugging at his sleeves and brushing some nonexistent dust off his shoulder.

Eugene smirked a little, putting a supportive hand on the kid's back. "You look just fine, kid. I still don't know what you see in her, but... If she makes you happy, then, so be it."

Varian sighed again, turning away from the mirror and using the heels of his hands to tiredly rub his eyes. "First off, she does make me happy. Thank you for noticing. Second, I see everything in her. Cassandra... Cassamdra's my world. She's my everything."

Even as he said all this, he knew that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was all true. But that didn't scare him any less.

Nobody was able to tell when or how, but an intruder had somehow entered the castle. And he was intent on getting revenge for all of the events that took place about a year before.

When Varian was finally satisfied with how he looked- which took a great deal of effort on Eugene's part- he dismissed his friend, trying to buy himself at least a moment alone. Everything was about to change, and he felt he needed even the briefest of moments to let everything sink in.

But he was robbed of this moment when he heard loud footsteps outside, followed by a sharp knock.

Sighing, he went to answer it. "I thought Eugene was going to tell everyone to leave me-"

The sentence died on his lips as he saw who his guest was: none other than Vince, the man that Cassandra was going to marry earlier. It had been a year, but Varian recognized him. He hardly knew Vince, but he knew why he was there.

And he was prepared to do whatever it took to defend... Was it his honor? Cassandra's? Maybe even the honor of everyone at last year's attempted wedding.

Whatever.

Whoever's honor Varian was defending, he would do so. And he would do a good job of it, too.

Cass sighed, pacing the room. She was supposed to have gotten the go-ahead awhile ago... What was taking so long?

Finally, she couldn't stand it any longer.

Despite all the protests her bridesmaids made, Cassandra left the room, already reaching into her belt for her dagger. Though she was unsure of what might be going down, she could already sense that she was needed.

And where she was needed, there she would be.

It really shouldn't have come as a shock to anyone: Vince's return, his intent on revenge. It shouldn't have been surprising that he targeted Varian, of all people. And yet everyone seemed pretty dumbfounded when they got word of the intruder. But, then again, it may have been the way that they received word that shocked them all.

Of course, the delay sent the guests some warning signs, but that was brushed off with the excuse of pre-wedding jitters. It was a commonly known fact that the young groom was easily overwhelmed, so it only made sense.

But the time delay dragged on, leaving people to wonder. And then the sounds came.

There was a loud shattering noise from just across the hall, followed by some banter and indignant chittering. A loud, hurried set of footsteps made their way to the scene and soon enough, there was the sound of metal on metal.

A group of guards began securing the area, trying to assure each guest of their safety, but not everyone would listen. Some panicked, standing and running from the room- and the building- as quickly as possible. Others took great interest in what might be happening and stood, trying to figure out where the action was. And still others, either extremely obedient or too terrified, sat in their seats, unmoving.

As the second group of people neared the commotion, it became evident that there was indeed a fight going down inside of the groom's changing room. The occasional grunt or cry told them that both Cassandra and Varian were inside that room, fighting an unknown foe.

Testing the door, they found that it was locked. They would just have to wait.

Cassandra expertly blocked Vince's sword as it came down towards her head. She then used the momentum from that swing to try getting Vince, but it didn't quite go as planned. Still, who was to argue this outcome, though?

The sword flew out of his hand, clattering to the floor. Varian, who had been watching in horror, suddenly realized his opportunity. Rolling out from his little hiding spot- and urging Ruddiger to stay- he grabbed the sword and launched himself to his feet while holding the point at Vince's neck.

"You lose."

Vince just stood and stared at Varian, dumbfounded.

Cass, knowing that, by now, they probably had an unseen audience, silently made her way to the door and unlocked it, her gaze never leaving the two men. Much to her relief, the first few people who came bursting into the room were guards and nurses. As the guards apprehended the intruder, the nurses began to tend to the young couple.

While Cass had only sustained a minor scratch, Varian was covered in cuts and bruises. Nothing looked to be severe- thank heavens- but it still worried some people... None more than his bride.

She sat beside him, taking his hand as the nurses scurried about, bandaging cuts and putting ice on bruises. Varian looked at Cassandra and gave her that sweet, gentle smile of his.

"Great job there," she murmured, "I couldn't have beat him without you."

"I think you mean that the other way around," he replied lightly, beginning to run his thumb over the back of her hand, "but... Teamwork makes the dream work, doesn't it?"

Cass grinned. "Yeah... Indeed it does."

"And I couldn't ask for a better teammate."

He reached out to gently tuck some hair behind her ear before pulling her in for a soft, tender kiss. "I'm just glad that you're okay, Cassie."

"Me?! What about you? You're a mess!"

He grinned, shrugging a little. "Was I ever not?"

This earned him a laugh from Cassandra, which was all that he needed to hear. He loved her laugh. It was one of his favorite sounds in the entire world.

"You bring a fair point," she consented, amusement dancing in her eyes, "can't argue with that."

"But seriously," he whispered, " I am glad that you're okay."

Cass smiled softly, quickly reaching to help a nurse with a bandage for Varian's forearm.

"Do you think you'll be okay?" the nurse asked him, tying it off, "there's no major injury- not that I can see, at least- but it all depends on you."

Varian knew exactly what she was asking: would the wedding go on as planned, or would it be delayed even further?

He smiled, looking at Cassandra once again. "I should be fine. Let's do this."

"Do you, Varian Vatter, take Cassandra Pendergraft to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Varian smiled softly at Cass, feeling the happiest had ever felt in his entire life. "I- I do."

"And do you, Cassandra Pendergraft, take Varian Vatter to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

She returned the smile. "I do."

She looked at Varian, beaten and bruised from earlier. She thought back to what he had said about teamwork. She remembered his selflessness last year. And seeing the way he was gazing at her right now...

He was worth the wait.


End file.
